Standing in the sunshine outside a Suffolk County courthouse, Derek tried to explain the fight with addiction that keeps getting him arrested.
Under the changes to the state bail laws enacted in 2020, he got to wait for trial at home. During the waiting period, he had access to a slate of publicly-funded programs known as pretrial services. For Derek, that meant drug counseling. In an analysis of the 10 most-populous jurisdictions in New York, most departments in charge of pretrial services aren't increasing funding, even though thousands more people are now awaiting trial from home. Only two -- New York City and Westchester -- significantly increased the budgets for the departments in charge of pretrial services. The eight remaining counties increased budgets by an average of 3% since 2019, less than the rate of inflation.
Some lawmakers in other parts of the state decided to make support services for people awaiting trial a spending priority. Starting in 2017, New York City started investing millions in a constellation of programs that hope to reduce crime by assisting defendants find housing, jobs, and mental health counseling. In 2022, New York City is set to spend about $155 million on programs for people awaiting trial.
“These are choices that these counties are making. And they're choosing to not prioritize pretrial services and to prioritize other budgetary lines,” said Jullian Harris-Calvin of the Vera Institute of Justice.At the same time, communities are struggling to fund support for people awaiting trial, they seem to be finding as much money as ever to pay for local jails.
Major problem. Reduced options for our homeless mentally ill while failing to address the need of so many homeless people for mental health care. Jails are NOT the answer.
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